With Tropical Storm Lisa forming in the southern Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line has decided to cancel Carnival Vista’s port visit in Belize City, Belize on Wednesday, April 2nd.
The storm is likely to strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall, and other cruise lines in the area are also on alert or planning itinerary changes as well.
Carnival Vista drops port of call
Due to the tropical storm Carnival vista has changed its flight schedule and will no longer call at Belize City on Wednesday, November 2nd from 8am to 5pm as planned in the original itinerary. Instead, guests on board report that the ship will have another day at sea.
Carnival Vista is currently embarking on a 7 night Western Caribbean cruise from Galveston after departing Texas on Saturday 29th October. The ship has already spent two days at sea and will be in Roatan, Honduras on Tuesday, November 1st.
Wednesday was scheduled Belize City but will now be a day at sea. The ship should be visiting on Thursday Cozumel, Mexicothat is far enough north of the storm that port visiting should not be affected.
Another day at sea follows before the ship arrives back in Galveston on Saturday 5th November.
The 133,596 gross tonn Carnival Vista can welcome up to 3,934 guests at double occupancy and up to 4,977 passengers at full occupancy.
Tropical Storm Lisa forms
Tropical Storm Lisa began organizing on Sunday 30 October and quickly became an official tropical storm on Monday 31 October in the morning.
The storm’s current position is approximately 400 miles (644 kilometers) east of Belize City and 150 miles (241 kilometers) south-southwest of Grand Cayman, and is moving due west at 14 miles per hour (22 kilometers per hour).
Tropical Storm Lisa is not expected to change course dramatically, but will continue west until making landfall in Belize late Wednesday night.
According to the National Hurricane Center, the storm’s maximum sustained winds will be 60 miles per hour (97 km/h), just 14 mph (22 km/h) below the threshold for a Category 1 hurricane.
Tropical Storm Lisa is likely to reach hurricane strength within the next 24 hours, but is unlikely to strengthen beyond a Category 1 storm as it will make landfall shortly after reaching hurricane status and thus lose its ability to continue to grow significantly strengthen.
storm effects
Tropical storm warnings are currently in place along much of the north coast of South America, from eastern Guatemala to the far northern tip of Nicaragua. This includes all of Honduras, and the offshore islands north of Honduras are under a hurricane warning.
The east coast of Belize is already under hurricane surveillance, which will change to a hurricane warning as the storm approaches.
The southern coast of Quintana Roo in Mexico is also warned of tropical storms, but no warnings are in effect as far north as Cozumel.
The storm is expected to be well away from coastal areas by the weekend and is likely to dissipate quickly once it makes landfall, and cruises making late-week or weekend visits to the region are unlikely to be impacted.
Still, it’s a good precaution for all cruise travelers with upcoming visits to Belize, Honduras or Cozumel to stay in close contact with their cruise line for up-to-date information and notifications of itinerary changes.
The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on November 30th.
